A Quiet Place was John Krasinski’s first directorial venture back in 2018. However, the perfection with which Krasinski had helmed the film was awe-inspiring. No one thought that this was from a first time director. The overwhelming success of the first film spawned a sequel with Krasinski in the director’s chair once again. The sequel was good but didn’t match the expectations and standard set by its predecessor. After two successful entries, the franchise is now expanding with a prequel – A Quiet Place: Day One. This will be the first film in the franchise not to be directed by John Krasinski. Michael Sarnoski will be taking the director’s chair this time around.
He is responsible for 2021’s critically acclaimed Pig starring Nicolas Cage. Considering his astute vision, it is believable that Krasinski has handed over his brainchild to him. Sarnoski will also helm the upcoming A Quiet Place threequel. As Super Bowl is around the corner, it is an exciting time for cinephiles as many movie trailers are starting to drop in order to generate buzz. One of the major trailer drops from last week was A Quiet Place: Day One. The trailer was indeed outstanding keeping up with the franchise’s quality but it also suggests the genre shift that the franchise is transitioning through. Are you confused? Well, let me explain.
What Will The A Quiet Place: Day One Explore?
First of all I would just love to point out that the trailer of the spin-off is simply outstanding. I have seen many trailers recently that manage to generate hype for the film but very rarely do I see a trailer that mesmerizes me for its editing. The trailer is cut as its own entity and not as just a subset of the film. The rhythm established by the edit makes it an enthralling watch.
Apart from all the praise, the trailer also acts as an important statement to set the expectations for the spin-off and possibly for all the upcoming films in the franchise. Now, I might be wrong about this but the more I watched the trailer, the stronger my conviction became for my theory. In my opinion, the trailer of the film is subtledly telling us that this A Quiet Place film won’t be a mystery-horror like its predecessors.
Day One will step into the genre of action-thriller similar to the Mummy movies or Zombie movies. Whatever the trailer showcased, felt like huge action set pieces rather than intimate horror staging. This move makes sense given the fact the film will supposedly explore the initial days of the aliens’ arrival. The only way to make a compelling story about this is to treat it like the start of a zombie apocalypse.
No one has any answers. There are no rules. All that matters is to survive. The world is descending into madness forcing it to be a big scale spectacle rather than a family’s tale of survival. The arrival of the aliens is also shot in a way that psychologically forces your brain to trigger images from a Zombie movie. There are a lot of people on the streets to make the chaos even more terrifying.
You’re suffocated by the thought to survival. People are stampede more than the monsters devouring them. These are classic tropes from Zombie movie set piece. The trailer is also cut in a way that isn’t inviting the audience in this world. They know that the audience is already here, so without wasting any time it puts you right in the centre of action.
The shots of aircrafts, blasting buildings, destroyed buses and the haunting yet fast paced background score all contribute to make it a high octane action-thriller than a horror flick. I believe Sarnoski has taken the a brilliant approach for a film like this. He is not trying to replicate what Krasinski did, rather he is interested to do his own thing by defying the expectations from the franchise giving the audience something fresh.
I’m also obligated to add that this is more or less the same trailer showcased at the CinemaCon 2023, we’d covered an article on the leaked trailer description and and we’re happy to say that the official trailer and the leaked description sound identical.
Watch the full trailer of A Quiet Place: Day One on YouTube:
The prequel stars Djimon Hounsou, Joseph Quinn, Lupita Nyong’o and Alex Wolff. Pig director Michael Sarnoski is helming the film, he has co-written the film with Jeff Nichols. A Quiet Place: Day One is scheduled to hit theatres on March 8th, 2024. The first two movies are available for streaming on Paramount+.
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